Hoppy Saison
Blindman Brewing

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a milky pale yellow - thick and cloudy with decent whitish head. Aroma is mildly hoppy tropical fruit - grapefruit - lemon. Taste is more subdued - slightly earthy with citrus, mild peppery yeast. Not very hoppy, but as warms has a bit more of bitter character with a dry finish. Good beer but I was anticipating a hoppier version with a more distinct pepper/peppercorn effect.

 

473ml can - no. 2 in their Terminus Series, this time collaborating with Yellow Dog Brewing. Double dry-hopped with Galaxy, Mosaic, and Citra.

This beer pours a very hazy, pale golden straw colour, with four fingers of puffy, finely foamy, and somewhat fizzy off-white head, which leaves a bit of streaky and sudsy lace around the glass as it evenly bleeds off.

It smells of pungent tropical fruit (pineapple, guava, and mango), further grapefruit citrus notes, estery Belgian yeast, some black pepper and coriander earthy spiciness, gritty and grainy pale malt, a lesser edgy wheatiness, and some understated leafy, musty, and floral green hop bitters. The taste is bready and grainy pale malt, wet wheat crackers, some mixed exotic and domestic citrus fruitiness, sort of spicy yeast, more ground peppercorn and coriander spice, and a still gentle earthy, leafy, and floral verdant hoppiness.

The carbonation is average in its basic cable frothiness, the body a solid medium weight, and generally smooth, with the yeast and hops doing well to keep their hands inside the windows at all times. It finishes trending dry, the malt faltering, and the fruity, yeasty, and spicy components putting 'er on coast.

Overall, this is one tasty and engaging hopped-up version of the style - the dry hopping really sinking in. However, it doesn't totally obfuscate the underlying brew, which renders a fairly balanced experience. Great stuff, and I look forward to the next in the series!